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Wednesday, April 23, 2008 |
McCain dismisses equal pay legislation, says women need more ‘training and education.’. Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) skipped the vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which “restores the longstanding interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act,” overturned last year by a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling. In New Orleans today, McCain explained his opposition to the bill by claiming it “opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems.” He added that instead of legislation allowing women to fight for equal pay, they simply need “education and training“:
“They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else,” McCain said. “And it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.
“It’s a vicious cycle that’s affecting women, particularly in a part of the country like this, where mining is the mainstay; traditionally, women have not gone into that line of work, to say the least,” he said.
The issue is not “education and training.” When denied equal pay by her supervisor, Lilly Ledbetter was doing the exact same job as her male counterparts and received numerous performance-based awards. McCain has a long record of failure on women’s issues, earning him a 0 percent rating from NARAL ProChoice America six years in a row, from 2001-2007.
(HT: TortDeform)
[Think Progress]
8:32:57 PM 
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Published on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 by The Boston Globe
Propaganda at Home
Editorial
Anyone who has watched the military analysts hired by TV networks has heard rosy assessments of the war in Iraq. The similarities between their judgments and the Pentagon[base ']s are not coincidental. As The New York Times demonstrated by suing the Pentagon to obtain 8,000 pages of documents, those analysts were enlisted by the Defense Department in a psychological warfare operation targeting the domestic audience. And, as the newspaper reported Sunday, many of the retired military officers appearing on news shows were using their access to the Pentagon and the airwaves to procure lucrative contracts for some 150 defense contractors, which employed them as consultants, board members, lobbyists, or executives.
This is no subtle attempt to influence public opinion. It is a government program to corrupt the free flow of information that serves, in a healthy democracy, to inoculate the public against official lies, bad policy, and misbegotten wars.One straightforward corrective would be for TV news executives to require full disclosure of their analysts[base '] business interests as well as their contacts and junkets with military and government officials. Ideally, the television news shows would not have to rely on paid outside experts. They should trust their own reporters to gather news from disparate sources, and to interview former and serving officers who can offer informed commentary from diverse viewpoints.
During the current Iraq war, a number of former military figures have criticized the Bush administration[base ']s decisions. Yet as the Times report shows, former President Dwight Eisenhower[base ']s famous anxiety about what he called the [base "]military-industrial complex[per thou] still applies. The Times recounted how former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld invited some of the avid TV military analysts to meet with him in April 2006, when he had come under fire from a group of recently retired generals who castigated his stewardship of the war. Acting as his personal propaganda team, they fanned out to the networks and cable channels to assure Americans that there was great progress to celebrate in Iraq.
This is a tactic more suitable for Vladimir Putin[base ']s Russia. In fact, the Pentagon[base ']s manipulation of the media has been more deft than the Kremlin[base ']s because it was better hidden.
In the end, the government[base ']s disguised lies have done more damage to American democracy and the national interest than to any foreign enemy. History[base ']s epitaph for the Pentagon[base ']s psywar operation will be: [base "]We fooled ourselves.[per thou]
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company
8:15:27 PM
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Janet Ritz: EPA Scientists Confirm Political Interference.
The Union of Concerned Scientists has released an online survey of thousands of EPA scientists in which over half the scientists cited political interference in their work and their findings.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded with the simple yet profound charge "to protect human health and the environment." Yet a new UCS survey of scientists at the agency reveals that challenges from industry lobbyists and some political leaders have led to the suppression and distortion of EPA scientific findings--to the detriment of both science and the health of our nation.
Henry Waxman, D-CA, has called the findings "disturbing." He plans to pursue the issue at an Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in which [EPA Administrator] Stephen Johnson is scheduled to testify.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency scientists complain they have been victims of political interference and pressure from superiors to skew their findings, according to a survey released Wednesday by an advocacy group. ~snip~ "The investigation shows researchers are generally continuing to do their work, but their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write regulations," Grifo said.
An EPA spokesman attempted to minimize the findings, attributing the discontent to the "passion" scientists have for their work.
This is not the first time in recent months that the EPA has come under scrutiny. In March, information came to light that President Bush had intervened on a smog standard and about an ongoing cat and mouse game on greenhouse emissions between the EPA and 18 states now suing the federal agency.
The survey was filled out by 5,500 scientists, most of them senior and with the EPA for over ten years. Four in ten said the political interference they'd been experiencing is more prevalent in the last five years. They described an agency low in moral as White House Office of Management and Budget officials (not scientists) second guess their findings and change their results.
EPA management initially told the scientists they could not participate in the survey. An EPA attorney countermanded that order, pointing out that they had a right to fill it out during non-work hours.
5,500 did just that.
More on this topic at THE ENVIRONMENTALIST
 [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]
8:13:55 PM
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Israel to Return Golan. “Informed sources” say the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a historically contested area between Israel and Syria, may soon find itself under new management. The two countries, who have been at war with each other since 1973, are both looking to resume the stalled 2000 peace talk process, which Syria has declared will not happen until the Golan Heights are returned.
The BBC:
Turkey’s prime minister has told Syrian President Bashar Assad that Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for peace, reports say.
The al-Watan newspaper quoted “informed sources” as saying Recep Tayyip Erdogan had telephoned Mr Assad on Tuesday morning to inform him of the offer.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has declined to comment.
Israel and Syria remain technically at war although both sides have recently spoken of their desire for peace.
Read more READ THE WHOLE ITEM Related Entries
[Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines]
12:17:11 PM
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'Disneyland In Iraq': Multi-Million Dollar Entertainment Park Coming To Baghdad. Some would say the last thing that war-torn Iraq needs is an entertainment park. California businessman Llewellyn Werner says different (from Times Online):
Llewellyn Werner, a California investor, admits he is facing obstacles most amusement park developers never have to deal with. Such as insurgent attacks and looting.
But when the amusement park you're building lies in downtown Baghdad, those risks come with the territory.
Mr Werner, chairman of C3, a Los Angeles-based holding company for private equity firms, is pouring millions of dollars into developing The Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience, a massive American-style amusement park that will feature a skateboard park, rides, a concert theatre and a museum. It is being designed by the same firm that developed Disneyland.
"The people of Iraq need this kind of positive influence. It's going to have a huge psychological impact," Mr Werner said.
The Globe and Mail report on the story as well, noting Mr. Werner's thoughts on the effect his proposed theme park will have on Iraq's sectarian relations:
Mr. Werner says the time is ripe for a fun park: "I think people will embrace it. They'll see it as an opportunity for their children regardless if they're Shia or Sunni. They'll say their kids deserve a place to play and they'll leave it alone."
An Iraq government spokesman is equally excited about the entertainment park:
Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, is equally optimistic: "There is a shortage of entertainment in the city. Cinemas can't open. Playgrounds can't open. The fun park is badly needed for Baghdad. Children don't have any opportunities to enjoy their childhood," he said, adding that entry to the park would be strictly controlled through tight security.
 [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com]
11:56:03 AM
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© Copyright 2008 Patricia Thurston.
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